Traffic Deaths Plunge As Illinois Buckles Up

September 06, 1985|By R. Bruce Dold.

The number of people killed in Illinois traffic accidents in August, the first month that police enforced the state`s law on mandatory seat belt use, was 26.9 percent lower than in the last five Augusts, according to figures released Thursday by state officials.

The figures also showed that Illinois motorists had their safest Labor Day weekend in 41 years. Officials attributed that to the campaign for seat belt use and the increasing emphasis on preventing drunken driving.

The results from Illinois` first month under the buckle-up law mirror big declines in highway deaths in two other states that have enacted such laws.

Though proponents lauded the figures as proof that the Illinois law is working, some state and federal officials cautioned that more time is needed to test the effectiveness of the national campaign to persuade people to use seat belts.

In August, 76 people were killed in motor vehicle accidents in Illinois, down 17.4 percent from the 92 deaths in August, 1984, and 26.9 percent less than the average of 104 deaths in Augusts from 1980 through 1984.

The figures include accidents involving cars, trucks, buses and farm vehicles, but virtually all the deaths were in accidents involving cars and trucks, which are covered by the seat belt law, said Richard Adorjan, a spokesman for the Illinois Department of Transportation.

Though the state`s mandatory seat belt law took effect July 1, state and local police did not enforce it until Aug. 1.

In the six-county Chicago area, the 70 traffic deaths reported in August were 20.4 percent less than the 88 in August, 1984. Every Chicago area county except Will reported fewer traffic deaths in August compared with a year ago. The Chicago area figures also include motorcycle, bicycle and pedestrian deaths.

``Hopefully this is an indication that the seat belt law is working. But it`s still early,`` said a spokesman for Gov. James Thompson, who signed the law late last year in the face of complaints that it infringed on personal rights.

Federal officials also cautioned against a rush to judge in favor of the laws in Illinois and five other states.

``There is definitely a downward trend. But we have to have half a dozen or more states with six months of experience before you can draw any conclusions,`` said George Jones, a program analyst with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.

Seat belt advocates said that the August figures have begun to prove their claims that the law would save hundreds of Illinois lives and might reverse a disturbing rise in traffic deaths in the last two years.

``We`re very pleased,`` said Mary Beth Berkoff, cochairwoman of the Illinois Coalition for Safety Belt Use, adding that the decrease is not as much as had been hoped. ``But we`re going to see a continual decrease in deaths and injuries. I`ve seen many more people wearing belts than ever before.``

Though private studies of compliance with the law are being conducted, no figures are available on how many people are wearing seat belts or on how many tickets have been issued for violating the law.

``The seat belt law is going to make a difference,`` said David Osborn, state president of the Alliance Against Intoxicated Motorists. ``When people buckle their seat belts, it makes them a little more conscious of safety in the car. They`re aware that they shouldn`t drink and drive.``

The Labor Day weekend ``could be one of the safest Labor Day weekends in the history of the state,`` said John Burke, a spokesman for the Department of Transportation.

The 10 traffic deaths recorded on the weekend, from Friday night through Monday night, were the fewest since 1944, when 9 people died. The 1944 figure is the lowest traffic death total for that weekend in the 49 years of record- keeping, Burke said. He cautioned that the figure for this year might rise if people who were seriously injured in a crash die.

There were 31 deaths recorded for the holiday weekend in 1984.

The first statistics tracking the impact of Illinois` seat belt law are comparable to the reductions in deaths reported in other states with such laws. Use of seat belts is mandatory in New York, New Jersey, Michigan, Texas and Nebraska. Such legislation has been approved in eight other states but has not been signed into law or has not taken effect.

In New York, which on Dec. 1 enacted the nation`s first mandatory seat belt law, officials announced last week that auto fatalities in the first six months of 1985 were 28 percent lower than the average for the same period in the last five years.

In Michigan, which enacted its law the same day as Illinois and began enforcing it immediately, July traffic fatalities dropped 29.7 percent from a year ago.

Results have been mixed in New Jersey. Motor vehicle deaths in March and April, the first two months the law was in effect there, showed a 3.4 percent increase over 1984 and an 11.4 percent decrease from the five-year average for those months.

Laws in Nebraska and Texas took effect in the last week.

The 1,572 Illinois traffic deaths in 1984 marked the first yearly rise after six years of decreases. The 997 deaths through Sept. 1 this year marked a 2.2 percent increase over the first eight months of 1984.

The Illinois law was enacted after more than a year of debate in the General Assembly. Thompson signed legislation last December creating the law. There was a strong bid in the legislature last spring to repeal it.